Family history research is so fascinating that it deserves to be shared. Here are one writer's musings and insights about making that process palatable and inviting to others.

18 October 2010

More about Illustrating Your Story

I like to have something to draw the eye or "break up" the page on every 2 page spread. Sometimes it is just indented quotes or dated diary entries. If I have nothing else, I have used text boxes with catch phrases from the text inside. This worked particularly well for my father-in-law's history. His text was taken from interviews and he is a master of the one-liner. The text boxes in his history serve as a quick summary of his story as a person leafs through the book as well as the means to draw a reader who is just taking a quick look into a story.

Using double columns is also easier on the eyes when the text is not broken into by illustration. What are some other illustration ideas? Here are a few:

Photographs, engravings and maps in city and county histories.

Histories of churches or schools attended--old yearbooks.

If you find something in a book, you can look to see where the author obtained it and then contact the owner for permission. Their copy will be better than a published copy and they may have other photos in their collection that would be good.

City directories with maps where you could pinpoint their address.

Advertisements of family businesses in the directory.

Public buildings or residences still standing from the time. Check obituary for an address.

Local genealogical and historical societies for historical photographs may show the same area or activity that you have written about.

Take pictures in a museum.

Nearby universities and colleges often have collections of photographs.

Internet query for what you want--sometimes someone will take a photo of a certain location for you.

Check local public libraries and newspapers. Old newspaper articles are excellent illustrations and add spice to the history. Librarians are often very helpful and will check for obituaries and copy them for a small fee.

Look for typical home, school or farm photos of the day--in magazines, newspapers, catalogues, etc. (Many ideas adapted from Loretta Evans, AG, in 2010 BYU Family History Conference)

My great-grandfather's home as it looks today

Pressed pansies found in a letter from Great-grandma to Great-grandpa (from 1900)

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About Me

I love people. I love family history and I like to write. My undergrad work in family sciences and my master's degree in sociology make my research and family history writing even more interesting to me.Our family committee recently published our third 800 page volume of ancestral histories. My father-in-law forgets many things these days, including my name, but he has never forgotten that I'm a "good girl" since I helped him publish his personal history along with that of my deceased mother-in-law.

Our family committee envisions making our work available for download to interested family members on our family websites: MJ and Hazel Christensen and Whitney-Nay Family History. Some of the chapters are already downloadable--The Nay family in Utah and the West and parts of the Christensen book series. We're now working on monthly podcasts and transforming the books into e-books.

Reading, writing and publishing family history is fun and satisfying to me. I'm convinced of the importance of knowing who we are by knowing where we came from. I started this site to share with others what I have learned and am still learning.

I welcome feedback and invite other family historians to share here as well. In the future I will be helping others to publish their own family histories.